Anglian to spend £40 million on leak detection deal

Part of a multi-supplier agreement involving 10 companies and valued at £40 million, it will play a key role in Anglian’s ambitious plans to greatly exceed saving levels on leakages imposed by the water regulator Ofwat in the AMP7 cycle.

Unusually, the contract will overlap two AMP periods, spanning the latter part of the AMP6 period that ends at the start of April 2020 and running for the first three years of AMP7. Asset management periods run for five years from 1 April of each year ending in a zero or five.

The agreement with the 10 suppliers is designed to ensure the utility has access to as wide a selection of equipment as possible. While considerable in size, it represents less than 17% of the total £240 million investment Anglian Water is making in order to combat leakages across its 40,000km network.

Its objective is to reduce leaks by 22% throughout its region – substantially above the regulator’s goal of a minimum 15% reduction for the industry.

Head of leakage at Anglian Water, Sean McCarthy, said: “We already have the lowest level of leakage in the water industry at half the national average. But being ahead of the curve means we’re now into the realms of tracking down really hard to find leaks long before they’re visible to the naked eye, meaning our leakage targets are now really tough.

“We’re looking into every avenue of engineering available to us to continually be better and technology like this will revolutionise our ability to meet those tough targets.”